Hematological case



Dec. 19,1939. J. A. WILSONIEI' AL 2,183,663

HEMATOLOGICAL CASE Filed Sept. 10, 1937 7 Jaw:

Patented Dec. 19, 1939 17;:

' UNITED STATES HEMATOLOGICAL OASE' James Alfred Wilson and Norman S. Hobson,

Meriden, Conn., assignors to Bard-Parker ompany, Inc., Danbury, Conn, a corporation of New York Application September 10, 1937, Serial No. 163,255

3 Claims.

, the patient, and in caseswhere the patient is unable to go to the testing laboratory.

It has heretofore been the general practice for the physician to assemblethe necessary pipettes, diluting solutions, lancet, sterilizing medium, cotton and other appurtenances necessary to take a blood sample and carry these various articles by such means as might be at hand. Thus serious inconvenience has been experienced not only in assembling the various articles, but in the means of transporting them without risk of their breakage or leakage of the diluted blood from the pipettes.

' Our invention comprises a compact case of noncollapsible structure in which proper provision is 5 made for holding and. sealing the pipettes and for carrying the necessary glass slides for blood smears, suction tubing, gauze or absorbent cotton, small vials containing the appropriate dilution solutions for red and white blood cell count and sterilizing solution in which a lancet may be carried suspended and thus sterilized ready for use. The pipettes, slides and vials, of course, are extremely fragile and an important feature of our invention resides in the novel means employed to retain these fragile elements safely in place in the case and at the same time prevent leakage of the diluted blood solution contained in the pip-' ettes. With the case of our invention, the physician attending his patient may extract samples 40 of blood by suction into the pipettes, after having made a small incision by the lancet. Generally two pipettes are partially filled with blood samples.

By further use of the suction tube, the physician can then draw saline solution from onevial into 45 one of the pipettes and acid solution from another vial into the other pipette. Subsequently the pipettes can be fitted into the case and simultaneously sealed for transportation to the physicians ofiice or laboratory. As previously ex- 50 plained, this procedure enables the physician to preserve the individual characteristic of the blood samples for a sufficient length of time to transport this conveniently to his laboratory. As a consequence, the laboratory analysis is accurate 55 and valuable regardless of delay.

In one aspect our invention consists in a twopart case having provision for compactly retaining without danger of breakage, the equipment above discussed. To this end an important feature of the invention consists in a box having an upstanding centrally disposed boss in its bottom in which are formed a plurality of sockets for the vials, in combination with a cover having an elongated dome or well arranged to receive the upper ends of the vials and having elongated decks, at each side of the dome providing space for a pair of pipettes which may be positioned conveniently in the cover while the latter is open, and brought into position on either side of the vials when the cover is closed. I

These 'and other advantages and features of our invention will be more readily understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the ac companying drawing in which,

Fig. l is a view in perspective of the case Fig. 2 is a view in detail of a pipette socket; and

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the lancet. ,The case comprises an elongated rectangular box 10 molded from any suitable material such as formaldehyde resin, and having a cover ll, of

the same material, hinged at one end thereof.

The portions of the box l0 and the cover I I which carry the hinge l2 are somewhat thickened to prorounded ends and three sockets or receptacles for the vials to be presently described. The boss I3 is centrally disposed in the box l0 and the sockets therein are arranged in a straight line. Also molded as an integral part of the box are transverse partition members l4 and i6. These members are spaced from the opposite ends of the boss l3 and from the ends of the box so that they form a compartment at each end thereof. These members do not extend to the top edge of the box but are only about one-half the height of its side walls. The members l4 and 16 are provided on their opposite faces with vertical ribs [5 located adjacent to the side walls of the box and forming guideways for glass slides l9.

' The compartments formed by the transverse partition members [4 and I6 and the end walls of the box I!) may be used for cotton and a rubber suction tube IT.

The sockets in the boss l3 are dimensioned to receive vials 20, 2|, and 22 which are provided with caps carrying varying indicia, corresponding with similar indicia on the vials. We prefer to employ indicia of different colors in order that the color marking on each vial may be matched to the color of its cap, thus distinguishing it from the others. Vials 2!] and 2I may be used for appropriate solutions for dilution of the red and white blood cell count. Vial 22 may be used to carry a germicidal solution which may be used both for sterilizing the area of the patients skin to be punctured by the lancet, and also in which the lancet may be suspended by attachment to its cap.

In taking blood samples, it is necessary to make an opening in the skin of the patient, generally at the lobe of an ear or the end of a finger. For this operation we provide one vial 22 with a lancet 23 mounted in the cap thereof. The cap of the vial 22 has a flat top in order that the lancet may be put down in upright position as shownin Fig. 3 without touching any unsterilized surface. When the cap with the lancet 23 is placed on the vial 22, the lancet projects downwardly into the vial, and by filling the vial 22 with an antiseptic solution such as alcohol, it is possible to keep the lancet 23 constantly sterile. Since a definite puncture must be made in the skin of the patient, we prefer a lancet provided with a three-sided point 24.

Substantially in the center of the lateral walls of the cover II are formed inwardly projecting lugs 25 and 26 molded with the cover II. When the cover II is closed on the box Ill, the lugs 25 and 26 rest on the upper edges of the smear slides I9 and prevent them from rattling and breaking.

As shown in Fig. 2, one side of the hinge I2 is provided with a downturned plate at right angles to the side of the hinge I2. In the plate are apertures for a pair of tubular eyelets 21 and 28. Within the barrel of each eyelet is placed a sealing disc 40 backed up by compression springs 29. Glass pipettes 30 and 3| are inserted at their ends in the eyelets 2'! and 28 and have their open ends sealed by the discs 40 which may be formed of any suitable resilient material such as rubber. The other ends of the pipettes 30 and SI are sealed by pads 35 and 36 which are retained against the opposite end 32 of the cover by notched shoulders 33 and 34 molded with the cover II. Thus the pipettes 3D and 3| are not only held in position with provision for a small amount of play to break the force of shocks, but yielding means are provided to seal the ends at the same time.

In the center of the enclosure of the cover II, we provide an elongated dome or narrow recess 31 which performs the function of receiving the caps of the vials 20, 2|, and 22 to prevent them from being shaken from the sockets in the boss I3 during transportation. The cover II is provided with an apertured locking member 38 which engages a cooperating member 39 on the box I0.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that when the cover II is closed over the box II], the pipettes 30 and 3| will lie with the vials 2!], 2i, and 22 between them, the lugs 25 and 26 will abut against the upper edges of the smear slides I9, and the upper portions of the vials 20, 2|, and 22 will project into the dome 31. In the construction of the box ID, the boss I3 and the transverse partition members I 4 and I6 may be molded in one piece with the box I; similarly, the lugs 25 and 26 and the notched shoulder 33 and 3 may be molded with the cover II. With this construction it will be readily understood that the cost of the case will be Very small.

Those skilled in the art will at once see the possibility of varying the construction of the case and the disposition and character of its contents, but such variations are within the scope of our invention as recited in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A hematological case comprising a box enclosing an elongated open space having spaced pads located at one end and spaced sockets located at the other end which are provided with yielding sealing discs.

2. A hematological case for retaining a plurality of pipettes, comprising a box having a cover hinged at one end thereof and provided with perforated hinge plates overlying one end wall, eyelets projecting through the plate and retained with their flanges beneath the plate, and yielding sealing discs located within the eyelet barrels.

3. A hematological case comprising an elongated box, a cover hinged to the box and provided With a broad enclosure and a narrow recess opening into the broad enclosure, an upstanding boss secured to the bottom of the box and provided with a series of open sockets disposed beneath the narrow recess in the cover, and

means disposed in the broad enclosure of the cover for holding a plurality of pipettes.

J. ALFRED WILSON NORMAN S. HOBSON. 

